Spectral analysis of heart rate variability has become a noninvasive standard method for assessment of autonomic nervous system activity in athletes. The effect of exercise training on autonomic regulation of pupillary light reflex is not known. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pupil autonomic function in athletes. We ...

PURPOSE: In humans, cardiac morphological adaptations to athletic training have been exhaustively described, while the existence of morphologic (adaptive) changes in the peripheral vessels are less well known. Therefore, the scope of the present study was 1) to assess the existence of morphologic changes in the peripheral vessels, such as ...

PURPOSE: Athletes with locomotor disabilities (LDA) participate in many competitive sport activities, yet little is known about sport-related muscle pain (SRMP). This study assessed the prevalence, determinants, and main characteristics of SRMP in LDA. METHODS: A cross-disability epidemiological survey was used to investigate the occurrence of SRMP during the previous ...

A high prevalence of asthma has been reported in athletes. However, studies in this population usually show an even higher prevalence of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB). This report compares studies on self-reported or physician-diagnosed asthma in athletes with those using objective measures of airflow limitation or airway ...

This study aimed at determining the frequency of respiratory symptoms in high-level athletes and whether respiratory questionnaires are reliable predictors of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in this population compared with control subjects. One hundred high-level athletes exercising in different conditions of ambient air (dry, humid, cold or mixed dry and humid) ...

Diagnosis and medical intervention for exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) are often based on self-reported symptoms, without spirometric confirmation. Inspiratory stridor (IS), a symptom of vocal cord dysfunction (VCD), is frequently mistaken for EIB wheeze. Athletes with exercise IS that spontaneously resolves on activity cessation are suspect for VCD and may not ...

The pineal hormone, melatonin, has widespread effects on the body. The aim of this review is to consider the specific interactions between melatonin and human physiological functions associated with sport and exercise medicine. Separate researchers have reported that melatonin concentrations increase, decrease and remain unaffected by bouts of exercise. Such ...

Sports medicine practitioners who care for a wide array of athletes and active individuals will consistently face issues regarding chronic cardiovascular diseases and their associated risk factors. Among these, hypertension, obesity, and dyslipidemia are common clinical conditions that may be encountered even amongst elite caliber athletes. Consequently, those entrusted with ...

Cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM) has previously been found to reduce fatigue, depression, and cortisol response to heavy exercise training among competitive collegiate athletes and to speed physical and psychological recovery from surgery. Our study assessed the efficacy of a CBSM program to reduce the frequency of injury and illness ...

The unexplained underperformance syndrome (UPS), previously known as the overtraining syndrome (OTS), has been defined as a persistent decrement in athletic performance capacity despite 2 weeks of relative rest. It has been proposed that UPS may be caused by excessive cytokine release during and following exercise causing a chronic inflammatory ...

This article reviews the potential effects of the female steroid hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle on exercise performance. The measurement of estrogen and progesterone concentration to verify menstrual cycle phase is a major consideration in this review. However, even when hormone concentrations are measured, the combination of differences in ...

'Warm-up' activity is almost universally performed by athletes prior to their participation in training or competition. However, relatively little is known about the optimal intensity and duration for such exercise, or about the potential mechanisms primed by warm-up that might enhance performance. Recent studies demonstrate that vigorous warm-up exercise that ...

The hearts and lungs of athletes are subject to damage from a wide array of infections and environmental factors. Mild to moderate exercise has been shown to be beneficial to overall health, and strenuous exercise simply requires proper rest and rehabilitation to ensure its beneficial effects as well. Simple colds ...

Most physiological testing of athletes is performed in well-controlled situations in the laboratory. Multiple factors that are hard to control for have limited the use of sport-specific field testing. Recently, the technique of the differential global positioning system (dGPS) has been put forward as a way to monitor the position ...

PURPOSE: The asthmatic airway responds to exercise by bronchodilation (BD) during and bronchoconstriction (BC) after exercise. A refractory period induced by an initial exercise challenge that provides protection against BC during a subsequent exercise bout has also been observed. However, no studies examining during-exercise response or refractoriness during long-duration field ...

The present study analyzed the amount of photographic coverage devoted to high school athletics over 1 year. Previous research pertaining to sex differences in newspaper coverage of sports has focused on the amount of written coverage given. Present findings indicated that, as with written coverage given female athletes, photographic coverage ...

Surveys indicate that up to 15% of the equine population in the United States is older than 20 years of age, with many of these animals performing various athletic activities well into their 20s. As is the case with their human counterparts, these geriatric equine athletes have the ability to ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether athletes with a history of low back pain (LBP) would, on average, perform slower on a timed 20-m shuttle run as compared with a normal athletic population. DESIGN: A timed shuttle run to evaluate residual functional limitations in college athletes with resolved LBP. SETTING: National College ...

PURPOSE: The distinctive nature of left ventricular (LV) adaptation reported in able-bodied endurance- and power-trained athletes probably reflects the different hemodynamic loading patterns that occur during acute exercise. The exercise-induced hemodynamic loads in spinal cord injured athletes are different to those in able-bodied counterparts (lower venous return and stroke volume, ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe a treatment strategy for paradoxical vocal-cord dysfunction (PVCD) as it applies to an athletic population. BACKGROUND: Paradoxical vocal-cord dysfunction has been identified as a cause of dyspnea and stridor in athletes. The basic element of PVCD is an inappropriate closure of the vocal cords during respiration, resulting ...

Activable enriched stable isotopes can play a unique role in studies of nutritional status, metabolism, absorption rates, and bioavailability of minerals. As a practical example, eight juvenile athletes were selected to test the absorption rates of iron during training and non-training periods by enriched stable isotope of Fe-58 (enriched degree: ...

Limited research has been done on head blows that may result in mild traumatic brain injury in Taekwondo. The purpose of this study was to investigate the fighting conditions under which blows to the head commonly take place, with a view to determining the typical conditions under which injury may ...

This study explores the importance of creatine kinase (CK) in the regulation of muscle mitochondrial respiration in human subjects depending on their level of physical activity. Volunteers were classified as sedentary, active or athletic according to the total activity index as determined by the Baecke questionnaire in combination with maximal ...

A well-balanced diet with appropriate training is the key to maximizing athletic performance. Nutritional counseling should be an essential part of anticipatory guidance, especially for certain teens, such as those who are vegetarians or those with low-calorie intakes. Other considerations for anticipatory guidance are listed in Box 8. Adequate hydration ...

Since its first description in 1985, two opposing theories have evolved to explain the etiology of symptomatic hyponatremia of exercise. The first holds that the condition occurs only in athletes who lose both water and sodium during exercise, and fail to fully replace their sodium losses. The second theory holds ...

Traditionally, high-carbohydrate diets have been recommended for endurance and ultra-endurance athletes. For many endurance events, the habitual consumption of a high-carbohydrate diet, with supplemental carbohydrate before and during exercise, is appropriate for many athletes. However, there are some situations for which alternative dietary options are beneficial. Diets relatively higher in ...

Exercise has many potential benefits for young children, and opportunities for activity programs should be made available to as many children as possible. With the marked increase in more intense exercise patterns and early specialization in sports, however, more injuries can occur. Efforts to train young athletes should be made ...

The care of athletes with concussions is challenging because each patient has different symptoms. An athlete should never be returned to play until completely asymptomatic. Classification systems for concussions are not based on scientific evidence and represent some practitioners' best guess at what is safe for young athletes. Many experienced ...

AIMS: Exercise-related syncopal spells in athletes receive great attention and are a source of anxiety in the sporting world. The aim of the present study is to describe the clinical presentation, the yield of the initial diagnostic work-up and the long-term outcome of a series of consecutive competitive athletes with ...

Anabolic steroid precursors have gained widespread popularity as ergogenic supplements. Advertisements for these supplements claim that they increase endogenous testosterone production and protein synthesis, resulting in increased lean body mass and strength during training. At this time scientific support is limited, but the potential for serious side effects exists and ...

Increasing numbers of high school- and college-aged students are participating in sports. As sport participation and intensity increases, the frequency of associated heat related illnesses and acute and chronic overuse injuries will continue to become more prevalent. The sports medicine physician plays an essential role not only in the practice ...

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the right-to-left ventricular red cell pulmonary transit times (PTT) during intense exercise and circulating white blood cell (WBC) counts in highly trained endurance athletes. We postulated that high levels of WBCs preexercise would slow PTT. Eleven endurance-trained athletes ...

Training athletes to achieve their personal best is an arduous task. The art of coaching athletes toward world-class performances is a blend of science and psychologic motivation. Competitive athletes train 20 to 40 hours per week and push the physiologic limits of the human body. In the past, applying training ...

Improvements in the results of athletic competitions are often considered to stem from better training and equipment, but elements of chance are always present in athletics and these also contribute. Here we distinguish between these two effects by estimating the range into which athletic records would have fallen in the ...

In this study, we examined aspects of the 4 x 100 m relay that are amenable to mathematical analysis. We looked at factors that affect the time required to complete the relay, focusing on the performance of elite male athletes. Factors over which the individual athletes, and the team coach, ...

PURPOSE: Alterations of the red blood cell system and iron metabolism can influence physical performance. On the other hand, exercise can influence hematological variables. The purpose of this epidemiological study was to investigate the characteristics of the red blood cell system and the iron metabolism in athletes of different sporting ...

BACKGROUND: It is believed that there are many high school-age athletes who have undiagnosed asthma or exercise-induced asthma (EIA). The screening of these athletes for EIA will allow them to be identified and treated. OBJECTIVES: 1) To obtain reliable peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measurements and administer questionnaires to high ...

Endogenous nitric oxide (NO) is an important mediator of vasodilatation, bronchodilatation and lung inflammation. We hypothesised that the exhaled NO level may be modified in some endurance-trained athletes during and after intense exercise. Nine athletes with exercise-induced hypoxaemia (EIH), 12 athletes without EIH and 10 untrained subjects exercised for 15 ...

Menstrual abnormalities, from a few skipped periods to a complete absence of menses, are extremely common in both athletic and nonathletic adolescents and women in their early 20s. Exercise-related menstrual abnormality is linked with hypothalamic pituitary axis dysfunction and is a diagnosis of exclusion. In athletes, treatment of secondary menstrual ...

Use of performance-enhancing substances is widespread among adolescents. Anabolic steroids, creatine, and androstenedione are currently among the most used ergogenic substances. In the past 10 years, the amount of data regarding these substances from well-designed clinical trials has increased dramatically. Anabolic steroids remain difficult to study because of their known ...

STUDY DESIGN: This is a prospective observational study. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of self-reported and clinical measures to the number of days to return to sport following acute lateral ankle sprains. BACKGROUND: In order to direct rehabilitation, injury classification schemes should include self-reported and clinical measures that help prognosticate ...

Wheelchair racing is one of the most popular sporting activities of individuals with spinal cord injury. Athletes with this impairment have unique changes in metabolic, cardiorespiratory, neuromuscular and thermoregulatory systems, which reduce their overall physiological capacity compared with able-bodied individuals or individuals with other types of impairments. This review on ...

The most common injuries afflicting the athlete affect the skin. The list of sports-related dermatoses is vast and includes infections, inflammatory conditions, traumatic entities, environmental encounters, and neoplasms. It is critical that the sports physician recognises common and uncommon skin disorders of the athlete. Knowledge of the treatment and prevention ...

Exercise-induced or athletic menstrual dysfunction (amenorrhoea, oligomenorrhoea, anovulation, luteal phase deficiency, delayed menarche) is more common in active women and can significantly affect health and sport performance. Although athletic amenorrhoea represents the most extreme form of menstrual dysfunction, other forms can also result in suppressed estrogen levels and affect bone ...

The number of women participating in organized sports has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. The female athlete triad is a condition seen with increasing frequency in young athletes and is characterized by the triad of amenorrhea, disordered eating and osteoporosis. The triad is caused by an imbalance between ...

Treadmill testing on a progressive incline of 11 wheelchair athletes. To determine if a novel treadmill exercise protocol which uses increments in inclination, rather than the standard increments in velocity, can be used to effectively determine maximum oxygen uptake VO2max for elite wheelchair athletes. Nottwil, Switzerland. Eleven elite wheelchair basketball ...

PURPOSE: Functionally, the shoulder is considered a ball joint, whereby high mobility is attended by low stability. Therefore, muscular balance is decisive for stability. Altered strength ratios are frequently described as "muscular dysbalances" and considered one of the causes of shoulder pathologies, whereby objective quantification is difficult. METHODS: In order ...